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Among the most energetic locations on a Tuesday night in east London's Brick Lane isn't a restaurant or a streetwear brand temporary shop, it is a chess gathering – or a chess and nightlife hybrid, to be exact.

Knight Club embodies the surprising fusion between the classic game and London's fervent nightlife culture. It was started by a young entrepreneur, in his late twenties, who launched his first chess club in the summer of 2023 at a smaller bar in a nearby area, a short distance from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.

“I wanted to make chess clubs for people who look like me and people my generation,” he said. “Typically, chess is only put in environments that are full of older people, which isn't inclusive sufficiently.”

Initially, there were only eight boards between sixteen people. Today, a “good night” at the regular club event will attract about 280 people.

Upon arrival, Knight Club seems closer to a music night than a chess club. Mixed drinks are being served and tunes is playing, but the chessboards on every table are not just decorative or there as a gimmick: they are all in use and surrounded by a queue of spectators waiting for their chance to play.

One regular, 24, has been attending the club regularly for the last several months. “I had no knowledge of chess before my first visit, and the initial occasion I ever played, I played a game against a expert player. It was a swift victory, but it made me fascinated to study and keep playing chess,” she noted.

“The event is about 50% social and 50% participants genuinely wishing to engage in chess … It is a pleasant way to relax, which avoids visiting a typical nightspot to see other people my generation.”

A Game Reborn: The Ancient Game in the Modern Era

In recent years, chess has been firmly established in the cultural zeitgeist. The popularity of digital chess proliferated during the global health crisis, establishing it as one of the fastest-growing online pastimes globally. In popular culture, the streaming series The Queen’s Gambit, along with Sally Rooney’s recent novel a literary work, have crafted a certain iconography surrounding the sport, which has drawn in a new generation of enthusiasts.

But a great deal of this recent attraction of the chess night is not always about the technicalities of the play; instead, it is the ease of social interaction that it enables, by taking a chair and playing with a person who may be a total unknown individual.

“It is a great Trojan horse,” said Jonah Freud, co-founder of Reference Point in the city, a bookshop, reading room, coffee house and lounge, which has organized a well-attended chess club every Wednesday since it began several years back. Freud’s aim is to “remove chess off a pedestal and make it feel like pool in a casual pub”.

“It is a very easy vehicle to meet people. It somewhat removes the weight of the need of conversation from interacting with people. One can handle the uncomfortable part of introducing yourself and chatting to a new acquaintance over a board instead of with no kind of context involved.”

Growing the Network: Social Gatherings Outside London

In Birmingham, a similar initiative is a recurring chess event taking place at a city cafe, near the city centre. “Our observation was that people are seeking spaces where one can go out, socialise and have a fun evening outside of visiting a bar or nightclub,” stated its creator and coordinator, Karan Singh, 21.

Alongside his friend a partner, also young, he bought chessboards, printed flyers and started the chess club in the start of the year, while in his last year of college. Within months, he reported Chesscafé has expanded to attract more than one hundred youthful participants to its events.

“A chess club has a specific connotation associated with it, about it seeming reserved. Our approach is to move in the contrary direction; it's a convivial party with chess as part of it,” he emphasized.

Learning and Engaging: An Alternative Generation of Players

Among numerous attendees, chess clubs are an entry point to the activity. Zoë Kezia, 27, is learning how to play chess with other attenders of the weekly event at Reference Point. Her interest in the pastime was piqued after an enjoyable night dancing and engaging in chess at one of the club's occasions.

“It is a strange concept, but it works,” she said. “It encourages in-person interactions instead of screen-based activities. It is a free neutral ground to encounter new people. It's inviting, one doesn't need to necessarily be skilled at chess.”

Kezia humorously likened the trendiness of chess among the youth to the facade of the “ostentatious intellectual”, an attempt to simulate intellectualism while projecting the appearance of “hipness”. If the chess trend has cultivated a authentic passion in the game isn't something she is quite convinced by. “It's a positive phenomenon, but it’s very much a trend,” she said. “When you're playing against people who are truly dedicated about it, it quickly turns less fun.”

Serious Gaming and Togetherness

It may seem like a some fun and games for individuals aiming to employ a game set as a networking tool, but competitive participants certainly have their role, even if away from the main party area.

Lucia Ene-Lesikar, in her early twenties, who helps running Knight Club,explains that increasingly skilled players have established a league table. “Participants who are part of the competition will play each other, we'll go to early rounds, semi-finals, and then we will eventually have a league winner.”

A dedicated player, 23, is a serious player and chess teacher. He has been the competition for about a twelve months and plays at the club almost every week. “This offers a nice alternative to playing serious chess; it gives a feeling of community,” he expressed.

“It is interesting to observe how it becomes more of a social pastime, because previously the only individuals who played chess were people who didn't go outside; they just stayed home. It's typically only two people competing on a game board …

“What I like about this place is that you're not actually facing the computer, you are engaging with live opponents.”